South African teachers needed to fill the gap in New Zealand’s Teachers shortage.

The New Zealand government said on October 14 it is going to recruit 6‚000 teachers from South Africa‚ the United Kingdom‚ Ireland‚ Canada‚ Australia and Fiji to address its anticipated shortage.

According to the New Zealand education magazine, the recruitment campaign aims to encourage schools to employ teacher graduates, kiwi teachers to return from overseas, overseas-trained teachers with similar qualifications to move to New Zealand and more people, including career changers, to train as teachers for future years

“Our immediate focus is to get sufficient quality teachers in place for the next school year. But longer-term workforce planning is already under way‚ and the analysis being refined will support this work to address what is expected to be a need for even more teachers in a few years’ time‚” New Zealand education minister Chris Hipkins (pictured above)wrote.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins saidthat he can solve the teaching crisis in two years.

“Immigration New Zealand‚ working with the Education Ministry‚ directly emailed 6‚000 overseas teachers who’ve registered an interest in working here‚ to encourage them to take the next step.”

A new analysis by the Ministry of Education shows that 650 extra primary teachers and 200 extra secondary teachers will be needed in 2019 to meet a rising level of demand, driven mainly by a forecast growth in the number of students in schools.

“We know that some schools and parents, particularly in the Auckland area but also in pockets around the country, are concerned that not enough teachers are coming into the system, and we are determined to pull out all the stops to meet next year’s projected shortfall,” Chris Hipkins announced.

University of Witwatersrand (Wits) education expert Mary Metcalfe doubts South African teachers will respond in a high enough number to impact the local education system.

“It is often young people who seek these opportunities and these enrich their experience and ultimately benefit the profession here when they return.”

Salary disparities sparked the New Zealand Teachers Shortage.

The Stuff magazine reports that teachers went on strike last week over pay equity. New Zealand School principals and teacher unions say low pay and lack of equity are significant contributors to the escalating teacher shortage. The sector claims realistic pay increases will address teacher recruitment and retention problems.

However, the New Zealand government has chosen to respond with an urgent drive to recruit teachers from overseas as part of a package of initiatives, as reported by the state-run New Zealand magazine.

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